One Last Trip Down Memory Lane: Panthers Say Goodbye to the Igloo

NEWARK --Taking the long way to Pittsburgh today, and that's
probably no shock to many of you who check in here from time to time.

Hopefully I make it to Blitzburgh in time for kickoff.

Or at least the 9 p.m. showing of 'The U' on ESPN. Figure I'll watch that in
Randy Sexton's box atop Mellon Arena. He has a TV in there, you know.

With ESPN taking a look back at the glory years of The U tonight, the Panthers
will get one more game on the site of this franchise's biggest achievement. It
was here, on Pittsburgh ice, where the Panthers stunned the hockey world and
upset the Penguins 3-1 in Game 7 of the 1996 Eastern Conference finals.

The Panthers, a third-year hockey team with many players no one had ever heard
of, was going to the Stanley Cup Finals.

I know some of you get tired of us bringing up the 1996 team all the time, but
I don't apologize. For those who were living in South Florida at that time, it
was a magical run with a team it was hard not to fall in love with. Yes, the
Panthers were very popular in South Florida at one time, with that '96 team
getting Wayne Huizenga his arena out in the Everglades. Without that, this team
would have been in Kansas City or Nashville a long time ago.

Hard to believe how the Panthers have absolutely lost their cache in our market
in such a short time. And it wasn't just the Miami Arena '96 team that was
popular, either. It was actually hard to get a ticket to games in Sunrise back
in the day. Of course, they didn't give them away at Quarterdeck or offer them
online for less than a buck, either.

My favorite part of the story got chopped out because of space concerns. I can just picture this scene, can't you?

Both MacLean
and Bill Lindsay recall the late-night bus ride to the Pittsburgh airport with
great fondness. The Panthers weren’t ready to end their celebration when they
left the arena, so the team bus pulled up to a local bar and picked up some
supplies for the road.

“That was
the best moment of my hockey life,’’ said Lindsay, a winger on that team and
now Florida’s television analyst.

“That bus ride was one you’ll never forget.
We had the beverages and the cigars going, all the windows on the bus wide open.
It was the best bus ride and plane ride I ever had.’’

Added
MacLean: “It was amazing. The team bus just pulled up to a bar and got takeout
service. It really was something out of Slapshot. That was the ultimate team building experience and one of the great group of guys of all time. I think about that team all
the time.’’

This is the Panthers
second and final game in Pitt this year, with the Penguins moving across the
street to new digs next season.

So unless the Panthers make it to the playoffs and face the Pens, this is it
for the Igloo.